Sunday, January 18, 2009

My husband and I have an AWESOME small group and this week marked the 10th Anniversary of one of our friend's bone marrow transplant. We praise God for keeping our friend cancer-free for the past 10 years! Of course, when I lack the proper words, I tend to express myself in...food. So, we cooked up a nice dinner, got out the china and nice silver and finished it off with a Peanut-Butter layer cake with homemade Fluffy Chocolate Frosting. As usual, I got carried away and decided to decorate it with 10 mini peanut butter cups and lots more frosting. We had a great discussion after our meal--nothing beats great dessert except meaningful conversation with friends!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

I received several cake decorating books for Christmas and spent the afternoon learning new frosting techniques. I definitely need to work on the consistency of the frosting, but overall I think they turned out cute. I like the basketweave (top 2 corners on plate) and the ruffle with dots (center of plate) the best.

After trading stories with some of my co-workers about the joys of family Christmas get-togethers, we thought we could write a few chapters on the subject. This how-to-survive guide would be great for those newly-married couples spending their first Christmas with the in-laws as well as seasoned travelers who look forward to (dread) the trip to see family every year. For my real-life family and in-laws...please keep in mind that some of these are derived from both my and my coworkers' experiences and others are greatly exaggerated. Some, however, are completely true and you know it!! :)

Chapter List

1. Claustrophobia Defined:How to fit 35 people in a 1000 square foot farm house

3. Why I Slugged My Brother:999 different hilarious voices you can use to sing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in a small car

4. Santa is the New Heavyweight Champion of the World: Why I never pictured Pay-Per-View UFC Fighting as capturing the spirit of the season.

5. Seeing Stars: What happens when 13 cameras simultaneously go off, trying to capture all 17 grandchildren smiling, not crying, and not pinching each other while we all sing the praises of digital cameras.

6. One-upped Again:The feeling you get when your grandpa opens the box of chocolate-covered cherries you gave him, right after crying over the folded and framed U.S. flag your cousin's husband (home on leave from Iraq) had flown over his overseas military base in grandpa's honor.

7. Do I Look Fat?:What to say when multiple aunts ask if you are expecting, just because you've been married over a year (or four).

8. Is it Supposed to Smell Like This?:Why it pays to question which family made those thumbprint cookies before chowing down.

9. Don't Forget your Shower Shoes:Grandpa can shower in a corner of the cement-block basement by the light of the bare bulb on the opposite side of the room, and so can you.

10. No Ring, No Present:The hard-and-fast rules some families employ when it comes to which of their kids'/grandkids' significant others receive presents.